Letter from Ahwazi prisoner to UN Special Rapporteur

Mr. Maher Kaabi, an Ahwazi political prisoner who is serving his prison sentence in exile in Ardabil prison north of Iran, wrote a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur Mrs Asma Jahangir, detailing the Iranian occupation regime’s interrogations involving torture, forced interviews and false confessions and threats by security forces, to be the cause of his mother’s heart attack.

Mr. Kaabi’s letter as follow:

With greetings and respect to Dr. Asma Jahangir the United Nation Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Iran

I am Maher Kaabi, a 19-year-old political prisoner. I’m an Ahwazi resident and civil engineer student. I was arrested in 2011 by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry for my human rights activities. After the interrogations, where I was tortured (my front teeth were smashed and I was threatened to give forced interviews and give forced confessions to Press TV) I was sentenced to 10 years of prison which I had to serve in the Central Ardabil prison. During the six years of imprisonment, I was constantly and severely abused by the prison’s authorities and managers.

I was 19 when I was arrested and now that I am over 25 years of age, I have not once seen outside of the prison.

Apart from me, my older brother has also been sentenced to 15 years of prison, which he is also serving in exile in the Central Kerman Prison on charges of spreading propaganda against the government. Ahmad Kaabi, 27 years old, suffers from spinal complications and unfortunately nothing has been done for his devastating state. Like me, Ahmad has also been in exile for six years.

I will now explain something to you that has severely pained me for a couple of days. My mother, Sharife Faraj-Allah Kaabi, is 48 years old. She has constantly received threating phone calls by the Intelligence Ministry’s agents. The last telephone call was on Tuesday October 17and had a heart attack. I thank God that my father got to her on time and saved her life. She was hospitalized for two days and now her condition is stable.

Is this justice? Where did the humanity go, even my mother, who does not have any political activity, is also harassed by Iranian Intelligence Ministry’s agents.

My plea to you Dr. Jahangir is that you take urgent measures into this issue and by putting pressure on the regime, help us regain our rights.